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A Hell for Heroes: A SAS Hero's Journey to the Heart of Darkness
Book
Theodore Knell went through hell in the SAS - but his biggest battle began when he left. A Hell for...
Alan Partridge: Every Ruddy Word: All the Scripts: From Radio to TV. And Back
Steve Coogan, Patrick Marber, Peter Baynham and Armando Ianucci
Book
Join Alan Partridge on his incredible journey of discovery in Every Ruddy Word: All The Scripts....
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021) in Movies
Jul 21, 2021
Taylor Russell - as in the first film, very watchable (1 more)
Production design of the "games"
The script is lazy, lame and insulting to the audience (1 more)
There are a load of plot holes
Totally clueless
I only gave Adam Robitel's original "Escape Room" 5/10. It was perhaps hoping for too much that his sequel - "Escape Room: Tournament of Champions" - would be better.
Positives:
- As in the first film, Taylor Russell again stands out as a personable, attractive and convincing actress. She deserves a role in something a lot better.
- The production design on the "game sets" is certainly very impressive.
Negatives:
- The fact that SIX people are down with writing credits for this astonishes me. The whole thing comes across as lazily plotted, with virtually no character development of the players. (Yes, even less than the first film.) You might think Nathan (Thomas Cocquerel) as an athletic priest might be an interesting character. I was expecting him at one point to channel the dramatic demise of Gene Hackman's similar character in "The Poseidon Adventure". But no. Nothing much is done with this.
- It's a movie where the more you think about it afterwards, the less sense it makes. Some examples:
-- People are dead, but then again - when inconvenient for the plot - dead no longer.
-- There's some bizarre "daughter kidnap" sub-plot at one point, but that's never referred to again.
-- Acid rain has no effect on a lock... until that is, the rainwater is captured and poured on the lock! Bonkers!
- There's a tragic amount of inane running around and wailing that gets mentally tiresome. You can imagine this written in the script as "Now run down the corridor and adlib some 'teenagers in peril' noises". (This is a best case guess: I'd hate to think that some of the "Quick!"s and "Hurreeeee!"'s had actually been scripted).
Summary Thoughts on "Escape Room: Tournament of Champions": I found this one to be tragically bad. A lame attempt to cash in on the bizarre $155M success of the first B-movie. My personal recommendation: Avoid!
(For the full graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies on the web, Facebook and Tiktok. Thanks).
Positives:
- As in the first film, Taylor Russell again stands out as a personable, attractive and convincing actress. She deserves a role in something a lot better.
- The production design on the "game sets" is certainly very impressive.
Negatives:
- The fact that SIX people are down with writing credits for this astonishes me. The whole thing comes across as lazily plotted, with virtually no character development of the players. (Yes, even less than the first film.) You might think Nathan (Thomas Cocquerel) as an athletic priest might be an interesting character. I was expecting him at one point to channel the dramatic demise of Gene Hackman's similar character in "The Poseidon Adventure". But no. Nothing much is done with this.
- It's a movie where the more you think about it afterwards, the less sense it makes. Some examples:
-- People are dead, but then again - when inconvenient for the plot - dead no longer.
-- There's some bizarre "daughter kidnap" sub-plot at one point, but that's never referred to again.
-- Acid rain has no effect on a lock... until that is, the rainwater is captured and poured on the lock! Bonkers!
- There's a tragic amount of inane running around and wailing that gets mentally tiresome. You can imagine this written in the script as "Now run down the corridor and adlib some 'teenagers in peril' noises". (This is a best case guess: I'd hate to think that some of the "Quick!"s and "Hurreeeee!"'s had actually been scripted).
Summary Thoughts on "Escape Room: Tournament of Champions": I found this one to be tragically bad. A lame attempt to cash in on the bizarre $155M success of the first B-movie. My personal recommendation: Avoid!
(For the full graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies on the web, Facebook and Tiktok. Thanks).
Mothergamer (1568 KP) rated the PC version of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning in Video Games
Apr 3, 2019
Say Fable, Skyrim, and Dragon Age have a baby and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is the result and what a brilliant result it is. Not only is there a fantastic in depth story created by R.A. Salvatore, there is amazing art work done by Todd McFarlane and an incredible musical score by Grant Kirkhope. Last but not least, there is of course the game's executive designer, Ken Rolston. Together, these individuals made one hell of a RPG video game, that was not only fun to play, it's worth playing through again and again.
The story begins with your character finding himself or herself revived from death by a creation known as the Well Of Souls. This event has disrupted the threads of fate that affect the people and events of Amalur leaving you with no determined fate. This opens you up to many possibilities and of course there are those who would exploit it for their own personal gain.
With an opening like this, Kingdoms Of Amalur's story has a lot of depth and there are many possibilities that one can take as it progresses. There is so much to explore on the map and there is a freedom to it as you can explore as much as you like. The story line itself leads to you exploring the kingdom of Amalur even further opening up new areas and you are not isolated to just one location.
All the areas are beautifully done and are different from each other. No similarities or one map used repeatedly here. There is even a dangerous beauty and creativity to all the fantasy monsters that are a threat to you such as mountain trolls. Although you will see some of the same monsters in different areas as well as types of NPCs and other characters, it mixes together so well it doesn't hinder the game play or the story. The dialogue with characters is well written and even more refreshing, well acted. It's never boring and in some dialogues it even adds more to the tale.
One flaw Kingdoms Of Amalur has is a couple of the quests had a few bugs, such as the Shine And Shadow quest. The quest couldn't be finished because of the quest items not being in the inventory or the Boss for this particular quest just didn't show up. It wasn't a terribly trying ordeal, but it was something that was noticed and something that could and should be fixed. Other than that, there was no other technical issues with the game for me. The game didn't freeze once during all the hours of game play and the frame rate didn't drop, and because of how much fun I had with the game, a couple of quest bugs didn't bother me at all. But, let's move on to the rest of the good.
The core of Kingdoms Of Amalur is the combat throughout the game along with the ability to fully customize your character and play to your character's strengths due to your fate or lack of one. The possibilities are endless and you can even open up new job classes as your character levels up as the game progresses. Award points earned after leveling up can be put into three categories: Might, Finesse, and Sorcery giving you added abilities and status boosts associated with whichever job class you have chosen. Combine this with all the questing and yes, that includes all the side quests, five guild story arcs, and the downloadable content of The Legend Of Dead Kel, that could easily give you 100 hours or more of game time. To sum up, Kingdoms Of Amalur isn't just a run of the mill RPG. It's something more. It has a great mix of excellent story telling, amazing game play, and an exciting world to explore that promises tons of great adventure. Overall, it is a game worth having in a gamer's collection.
The story begins with your character finding himself or herself revived from death by a creation known as the Well Of Souls. This event has disrupted the threads of fate that affect the people and events of Amalur leaving you with no determined fate. This opens you up to many possibilities and of course there are those who would exploit it for their own personal gain.
With an opening like this, Kingdoms Of Amalur's story has a lot of depth and there are many possibilities that one can take as it progresses. There is so much to explore on the map and there is a freedom to it as you can explore as much as you like. The story line itself leads to you exploring the kingdom of Amalur even further opening up new areas and you are not isolated to just one location.
All the areas are beautifully done and are different from each other. No similarities or one map used repeatedly here. There is even a dangerous beauty and creativity to all the fantasy monsters that are a threat to you such as mountain trolls. Although you will see some of the same monsters in different areas as well as types of NPCs and other characters, it mixes together so well it doesn't hinder the game play or the story. The dialogue with characters is well written and even more refreshing, well acted. It's never boring and in some dialogues it even adds more to the tale.
One flaw Kingdoms Of Amalur has is a couple of the quests had a few bugs, such as the Shine And Shadow quest. The quest couldn't be finished because of the quest items not being in the inventory or the Boss for this particular quest just didn't show up. It wasn't a terribly trying ordeal, but it was something that was noticed and something that could and should be fixed. Other than that, there was no other technical issues with the game for me. The game didn't freeze once during all the hours of game play and the frame rate didn't drop, and because of how much fun I had with the game, a couple of quest bugs didn't bother me at all. But, let's move on to the rest of the good.
The core of Kingdoms Of Amalur is the combat throughout the game along with the ability to fully customize your character and play to your character's strengths due to your fate or lack of one. The possibilities are endless and you can even open up new job classes as your character levels up as the game progresses. Award points earned after leveling up can be put into three categories: Might, Finesse, and Sorcery giving you added abilities and status boosts associated with whichever job class you have chosen. Combine this with all the questing and yes, that includes all the side quests, five guild story arcs, and the downloadable content of The Legend Of Dead Kel, that could easily give you 100 hours or more of game time. To sum up, Kingdoms Of Amalur isn't just a run of the mill RPG. It's something more. It has a great mix of excellent story telling, amazing game play, and an exciting world to explore that promises tons of great adventure. Overall, it is a game worth having in a gamer's collection.
Paige (428 KP) rated Rembrandt's J'accuse (2008) in Movies
Jul 28, 2017
So insightful, so insane
This thing dives deep into bananas, and then keeps swimming downwards, until it finds a trench of crazy to swim right into and explore exhaustively.
A list of my favorite things:
-The urgency with which he is trying to solve a hundreds year old murder
-The floating head depositions
-"31 mysteries PLUS ONE"
-"...and a dog"
-"It might not be what you oughtn't to think it is not." And other such sentences.
-The fact that he sprinkles in actual, good points- and then promptly goes back to being bonkers
-"Only the dead..."
-"...saying that he is, in fact...satan's shorty?"
-"a midget transexual prostitute"
-The frantic graphics
Among other gems. So good at being both informative and just... I don't even know.
So many drinking games to be had.
Always watch with someone else, the "did that just happen? did he just really say that?" will be distracting otherwise.
Highly recommend, but it is really hard to find.
A list of my favorite things:
-The urgency with which he is trying to solve a hundreds year old murder
-The floating head depositions
-"31 mysteries PLUS ONE"
-"...and a dog"
-"It might not be what you oughtn't to think it is not." And other such sentences.
-The fact that he sprinkles in actual, good points- and then promptly goes back to being bonkers
-"Only the dead..."
-"...saying that he is, in fact...satan's shorty?"
-"a midget transexual prostitute"
-The frantic graphics
Among other gems. So good at being both informative and just... I don't even know.
So many drinking games to be had.
Always watch with someone else, the "did that just happen? did he just really say that?" will be distracting otherwise.
Highly recommend, but it is really hard to find.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Two for the Dough (Stephanie Plum, #2) in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Stephanie Plum is at it again. This time she is on the hunt for Kenny Manusco. Kenny shot one of his best friends in the knee and then, he ends up dead. Kenny missed his court appearance for the knee shooting and Stephanie is going to hunt him down. For this case she has a little extra help, some she wants and some not so much. Some of the same characters from One for the Money are back in this second edition. My favorite by far though is Grandma Mazur. She plays quite a big role is this book.
I laughed out loud several times during this book. I'm sure people were looking at my strangely. I really hope that Grandma Mazur is going to keep making her appearances. She adds a great variety to Stephanie's cases. You never know what she is going to do.
So, I'm three books down for my Janet Evanovich challenge. My goal is to read everything she has ever written. She has written over 50 books so I guess this should take me about a year or more to complete.
I laughed out loud several times during this book. I'm sure people were looking at my strangely. I really hope that Grandma Mazur is going to keep making her appearances. She adds a great variety to Stephanie's cases. You never know what she is going to do.
So, I'm three books down for my Janet Evanovich challenge. My goal is to read everything she has ever written. She has written over 50 books so I guess this should take me about a year or more to complete.
Ranch Dressing
10.0
Rate It
Book
Get ready for a laugh-out-loud adventure with Samantha Kidd, the most stylish sleuth in Ribbon,...
Merissa (12854 KP) rated The Cryptic Prophecy (Etherya's Earth #6) in Books
Apr 7, 2022 (Updated Jun 26, 2023)
THE CRYPTIC PROPHECY is the sixth book in the Etherya's Earth series, but the first one that follows the children of our favourite characters! This time, it's Callie -- the daughter of Arderin and Darkrip, who is also the starring character in an Elven Prophecy that alienates her from her peers, leaving her wide open for being used by others.
Although other characters are in here, the focus is on Callie and Brecken, plus their families. No worries though, because that also includes Callie's parents (in case you were having Darkrip withdrawals!). He's a bit of a one here when he goes in 'I'm your father and I know what's best for you' mode, but Arderin and Callie soon shake that notion from him. Those scenes were so much fun to read!
Brecken is the sole male in his family, his father having died years before. He adores his mum and will do anything for his sisters, including writing the most beautiful love letters to Callie, on behalf of someone else! I don't want to talk about 'the other man' though - he doesn't deserve the page space!! Brecken is well-deserving of his nickname Shakespeare and made my heart melt with every letter!
Tatiana plays a bigger role and finally picks a side, which opens up the way the following books will go. I did wonder where we'd be going next, but now, I'm fully on board and (once again) can't wait to read more.
Callie and Brecken are steaming-hot, whilst also being caring, loving, and romantic enough to make anyone's cold, dead heart beat again. I have absolutely adored this series but I think Callie and Brecken are my new favourites.
Oh, and that prophecy? It's fulfilled but not in the way you suspect, and that's ALL I'm going to say. If you want to know more - read the book!!! Just remember to start at book one though, so you get the full experience. Trust me, you won't regret it.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 5, 2022
Although other characters are in here, the focus is on Callie and Brecken, plus their families. No worries though, because that also includes Callie's parents (in case you were having Darkrip withdrawals!). He's a bit of a one here when he goes in 'I'm your father and I know what's best for you' mode, but Arderin and Callie soon shake that notion from him. Those scenes were so much fun to read!
Brecken is the sole male in his family, his father having died years before. He adores his mum and will do anything for his sisters, including writing the most beautiful love letters to Callie, on behalf of someone else! I don't want to talk about 'the other man' though - he doesn't deserve the page space!! Brecken is well-deserving of his nickname Shakespeare and made my heart melt with every letter!
Tatiana plays a bigger role and finally picks a side, which opens up the way the following books will go. I did wonder where we'd be going next, but now, I'm fully on board and (once again) can't wait to read more.
Callie and Brecken are steaming-hot, whilst also being caring, loving, and romantic enough to make anyone's cold, dead heart beat again. I have absolutely adored this series but I think Callie and Brecken are my new favourites.
Oh, and that prophecy? It's fulfilled but not in the way you suspect, and that's ALL I'm going to say. If you want to know more - read the book!!! Just remember to start at book one though, so you get the full experience. Trust me, you won't regret it.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 5, 2022
Mothergamer (1568 KP) rated the PlayStation 3 version of Catherine in Video Games
Apr 3, 2019
First of all, let me say that while I know a lot of you love Atlus games as much as I do, Catherine is not a typical video game. In fact, it is a sliding block puzzle game with a great story woven in. If you're not big on puzzle games, Catherine may not be the video game for you. However, if you genuinely enjoy challenging puzzles and are a puzzle game addict like myself, Catherine definitely gives you your money's worth.
Catherine is much more than a puzzle game however. The story is definitely what brings everything together. It addresses adult situations, things that people go through or suffer such as, fear of commitment, infidelity, and about how some people are childish and won't take responsibility for their actions. It's a unique title and simply an adult video game because it involves adult situations and the issues we have as we get older.
The story centers around Vincent Brooks who has a girlfriend by the name of Katherine. They're both in their early thirties and Katherine's biological clock is ticking which she hints at to him by telling him her mother has asked where the relationship is going. Vincent isn't sure he's ready for that level of commitment yet and says as much to his buddies he hangs out with at the local bar.
One night while hanging out at the bar mulling over a sliding block nightmare he had the night before, he runs into a beautiful blonde bombshell by the name of Catherine. Apparently after blacking out, he wakes up after another nightmare to find that she has spent the night. Of course, Vincent freaks out completely. Now, Vincent has to make a choice between lust and love, have good times with Catherine or finally make a commitment to Katherine.
Vincent's nightmares continue and even worse, people actually seem to be dying in them.Healthy men in their twenties and thirties are found dead in their beds and there seems to be no reason for it. A rumor goes around that it is a woman cursing all these men for being unfaithful. Is the rumor true? Vincent has to find out, climbing for his life one nightmare at a time.
Vincent Brooks In His Nightmare
Vincent's nightmares are the heart and soul of the puzzle sections. Every night, he wakes up surrounded by sheep, with horns growing out of his head and a voice taunting him to come up. There are items along the way that help you with the puzzles, but many obstacles as well involving sheep that are trying to climb also as the world crumbles behind them. You have a reason to climb, survival and the inner demons Vincent is struggling with. If you don't climb, you die. One example of this is, there's a giant monster version of Vincent's girlfriend Katherine, trying to grab him and smash the heck out of him. If Vincent's not quick enough to climb all those blocks to the top, he will surely die.
Every night, there's a different puzzle with each nightmare and depending on how quickly you get to the top and how many points you get, you can win gold, silver, or bronze trophies. The complexity of the puzzles is very interesting and the story is well written and captures your attention perfectly. It sounds silly, but you actually feel a sense of accomplishment when you have figured out a rather difficult puzzle.
Solve The Puzzle Or Die Trying
This brings up the next point. Some of the puzzles in Catherine will make you want to punch every living thing in your path. The difficulty level is excruciatingly high on a variety of them. There's no shame in playing a game on the Easy level. I know I will try a game on Easy first, to get a feel for the controls, to see how well the game plays, and to have a chance to genuinely enjoy the story that is being told. Then I will play again working on all the achievements and trophies, and improving my game scores. This is what I did with Catherine and some of those puzzles made me want to punch whoever designed it right in the face. A challenge is all well and good and definitely in a puzzle game, but when the game is on the Easy setting and it's still making you weep bitter tears of defeat, that is a big problem. Don't believe me? Apparently the difficulty level was such a destroyer of worlds, that the Japanese gamers complained about it. Frankly, that said quite a lot to me about how high Atlus raised the bar on these puzzles. The complaints were so many, that Atlus promised to put a patch in that would make the game much less difficult on Easy. I do understand their reasoning that they wanted the game to be challenging, so that players could reap huge rewards when they solved a puzzle, but the Easy setting in a game should be just that, easy and not throw people into the deep end with a sink or swim attitude. That's what the Hard and Nightmare settings are for.
However, there is hope! There is a secret trick to get to a Very Easy mode. It's a secret that Atlus put in to make the game a cake walk for players. When you access the main menu of the game, highlight Golden Playhouse and hold the back or select button for a few seconds. The screen will flash with a prompt telling you Very Easy mode has been activated. From there, the puzzles are much easier, and you can actually enjoy the story without those resentful feelings and frustration. It is a nice touch, and I give kudos to Atlus for caring enough about fans of their games to put it in there, because they do want people to enjoy the game.
Overalll, the game is great. The story is well thought out and acted out well with a great voice cast. There are also interesting characters that Vincent meets in the bar and can talk to, even help them with their issues. There is also a fun mini game in Catherine, called Rapunzel that is a sliding block puzzle game also that gives you pretty good rewards when you beat all the levels, along with opportunities to unlock music from various Atlus games and the Catherine game to play on the jukebox in the bar.
I have always loved the artwork in Atlus video games and Catherine is no exception. Right down to the animated short cut scenes, everything is colorful, seamless, and you really appreciate how everything ties together. The music, the voice cast, and the game play all mesh into a fantastic video game. Catherine is definitely a game worth having in any gaming enthusiast's collection and absolutely worth playing more than once.
Catherine is much more than a puzzle game however. The story is definitely what brings everything together. It addresses adult situations, things that people go through or suffer such as, fear of commitment, infidelity, and about how some people are childish and won't take responsibility for their actions. It's a unique title and simply an adult video game because it involves adult situations and the issues we have as we get older.
The story centers around Vincent Brooks who has a girlfriend by the name of Katherine. They're both in their early thirties and Katherine's biological clock is ticking which she hints at to him by telling him her mother has asked where the relationship is going. Vincent isn't sure he's ready for that level of commitment yet and says as much to his buddies he hangs out with at the local bar.
One night while hanging out at the bar mulling over a sliding block nightmare he had the night before, he runs into a beautiful blonde bombshell by the name of Catherine. Apparently after blacking out, he wakes up after another nightmare to find that she has spent the night. Of course, Vincent freaks out completely. Now, Vincent has to make a choice between lust and love, have good times with Catherine or finally make a commitment to Katherine.
Vincent's nightmares continue and even worse, people actually seem to be dying in them.Healthy men in their twenties and thirties are found dead in their beds and there seems to be no reason for it. A rumor goes around that it is a woman cursing all these men for being unfaithful. Is the rumor true? Vincent has to find out, climbing for his life one nightmare at a time.
Vincent Brooks In His Nightmare
Vincent's nightmares are the heart and soul of the puzzle sections. Every night, he wakes up surrounded by sheep, with horns growing out of his head and a voice taunting him to come up. There are items along the way that help you with the puzzles, but many obstacles as well involving sheep that are trying to climb also as the world crumbles behind them. You have a reason to climb, survival and the inner demons Vincent is struggling with. If you don't climb, you die. One example of this is, there's a giant monster version of Vincent's girlfriend Katherine, trying to grab him and smash the heck out of him. If Vincent's not quick enough to climb all those blocks to the top, he will surely die.
Every night, there's a different puzzle with each nightmare and depending on how quickly you get to the top and how many points you get, you can win gold, silver, or bronze trophies. The complexity of the puzzles is very interesting and the story is well written and captures your attention perfectly. It sounds silly, but you actually feel a sense of accomplishment when you have figured out a rather difficult puzzle.
Solve The Puzzle Or Die Trying
This brings up the next point. Some of the puzzles in Catherine will make you want to punch every living thing in your path. The difficulty level is excruciatingly high on a variety of them. There's no shame in playing a game on the Easy level. I know I will try a game on Easy first, to get a feel for the controls, to see how well the game plays, and to have a chance to genuinely enjoy the story that is being told. Then I will play again working on all the achievements and trophies, and improving my game scores. This is what I did with Catherine and some of those puzzles made me want to punch whoever designed it right in the face. A challenge is all well and good and definitely in a puzzle game, but when the game is on the Easy setting and it's still making you weep bitter tears of defeat, that is a big problem. Don't believe me? Apparently the difficulty level was such a destroyer of worlds, that the Japanese gamers complained about it. Frankly, that said quite a lot to me about how high Atlus raised the bar on these puzzles. The complaints were so many, that Atlus promised to put a patch in that would make the game much less difficult on Easy. I do understand their reasoning that they wanted the game to be challenging, so that players could reap huge rewards when they solved a puzzle, but the Easy setting in a game should be just that, easy and not throw people into the deep end with a sink or swim attitude. That's what the Hard and Nightmare settings are for.
However, there is hope! There is a secret trick to get to a Very Easy mode. It's a secret that Atlus put in to make the game a cake walk for players. When you access the main menu of the game, highlight Golden Playhouse and hold the back or select button for a few seconds. The screen will flash with a prompt telling you Very Easy mode has been activated. From there, the puzzles are much easier, and you can actually enjoy the story without those resentful feelings and frustration. It is a nice touch, and I give kudos to Atlus for caring enough about fans of their games to put it in there, because they do want people to enjoy the game.
Overalll, the game is great. The story is well thought out and acted out well with a great voice cast. There are also interesting characters that Vincent meets in the bar and can talk to, even help them with their issues. There is also a fun mini game in Catherine, called Rapunzel that is a sliding block puzzle game also that gives you pretty good rewards when you beat all the levels, along with opportunities to unlock music from various Atlus games and the Catherine game to play on the jukebox in the bar.
I have always loved the artwork in Atlus video games and Catherine is no exception. Right down to the animated short cut scenes, everything is colorful, seamless, and you really appreciate how everything ties together. The music, the voice cast, and the game play all mesh into a fantastic video game. Catherine is definitely a game worth having in any gaming enthusiast's collection and absolutely worth playing more than once.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Army of the Dead (2021) in Movies
May 26, 2021
Took To Long To Get To The Fun Part
I love me a good Zombie flick. I also love me a good Heist flick. So…when I heard that Zack Snyder (JUSTICE LEAGUE) was making a “Zombie/Heist Flick”, I thought “what’s not to like”?
Turns out…plenty.
A pet project of Sndyer’s that has been stuck in “development hell” in Hollywood for almost 2 decades, ARMY OF THE DEAD tells the tale of a group of mercenaries that look to rob $200 million from a vault under the casinos of Las Vegas - one small problem…Las Vegas has been walled off as a way to contain a zombie plague.
My first warning that this was not going to a pleasant experience is that this film has a 2 1/2 hour run time. That certainly seems bloated for a Zombie film and the first 1 1/2 of this flick certainly proves this out as Snyder - ham handedly - seeks to flesh out each of the characters in long, boring exposition scenes that didn’t really add anything to the tension or action. Well…it did add something…restless boredom.
But…I gotta admit, once the group of mercenaries make their way to the vault in Las Vegas, the last hour of the film was pretty darn fun.
Dave Bautista (Drax in the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films) leads the group of mercenaries and Ella Purnell (Emma in MISS PEREGRINE…) is his estranged daughter. I won’t bore you with the details of why these 2 are estranged…but they are and Bautista insists that his daughter NOT come along on this mission. So you know what happens next…yep, she comes along and I was rooting for her to get killed almost from the start. Neither of these 2 characters work and since they are central to the story they are really at the root of the problems with the first 1 1/2 hours of this film.
The rest of the ensemble, however, are a lot of fun and bring that “B Monster Movie” vibe to the proceedings and they look like they are having alot of fun. Tig Notero, Ana de La Reguera, Omari Hardwick and Theo Rossi are an enjoyable lot and know EXACTLY what type of film they are in.
But the standouts of the ensemble are the always great Garret Dillahunt (John Dorie in FEAR THE WALKING DEAD) who brings his usual “A” game to the proceedings. As does Nora Arnezeder (SAFE HOUSE) as “The Coyote” a survivor who has been in Las Vegas before and - especially - Matthias Schweighofer (RESISTANCE) who steals every scene he is in playing the German safecracker.
I would have loved it if Snyder would have cut the Bautista and daughter scenes (and characters) and just had this ensemble go after the loot - it would have been a much better - and shorter - film.
But…if you can last through the long, boring first 1 1/2 hours, the last hour is “good enough” Zombie action with an interesting “twist” on the genre that I will have to give Snyder credit for.
If you do all this, you’ll have a passably decent enough entertaining time.
Letter Grade: B-
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(OfMarquis)
Turns out…plenty.
A pet project of Sndyer’s that has been stuck in “development hell” in Hollywood for almost 2 decades, ARMY OF THE DEAD tells the tale of a group of mercenaries that look to rob $200 million from a vault under the casinos of Las Vegas - one small problem…Las Vegas has been walled off as a way to contain a zombie plague.
My first warning that this was not going to a pleasant experience is that this film has a 2 1/2 hour run time. That certainly seems bloated for a Zombie film and the first 1 1/2 of this flick certainly proves this out as Snyder - ham handedly - seeks to flesh out each of the characters in long, boring exposition scenes that didn’t really add anything to the tension or action. Well…it did add something…restless boredom.
But…I gotta admit, once the group of mercenaries make their way to the vault in Las Vegas, the last hour of the film was pretty darn fun.
Dave Bautista (Drax in the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films) leads the group of mercenaries and Ella Purnell (Emma in MISS PEREGRINE…) is his estranged daughter. I won’t bore you with the details of why these 2 are estranged…but they are and Bautista insists that his daughter NOT come along on this mission. So you know what happens next…yep, she comes along and I was rooting for her to get killed almost from the start. Neither of these 2 characters work and since they are central to the story they are really at the root of the problems with the first 1 1/2 hours of this film.
The rest of the ensemble, however, are a lot of fun and bring that “B Monster Movie” vibe to the proceedings and they look like they are having alot of fun. Tig Notero, Ana de La Reguera, Omari Hardwick and Theo Rossi are an enjoyable lot and know EXACTLY what type of film they are in.
But the standouts of the ensemble are the always great Garret Dillahunt (John Dorie in FEAR THE WALKING DEAD) who brings his usual “A” game to the proceedings. As does Nora Arnezeder (SAFE HOUSE) as “The Coyote” a survivor who has been in Las Vegas before and - especially - Matthias Schweighofer (RESISTANCE) who steals every scene he is in playing the German safecracker.
I would have loved it if Snyder would have cut the Bautista and daughter scenes (and characters) and just had this ensemble go after the loot - it would have been a much better - and shorter - film.
But…if you can last through the long, boring first 1 1/2 hours, the last hour is “good enough” Zombie action with an interesting “twist” on the genre that I will have to give Snyder credit for.
If you do all this, you’ll have a passably decent enough entertaining time.
Letter Grade: B-
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(OfMarquis)